These LGBT Refugees May Be Trapped By Donald Trumps Immigration Plan
DENIZLI, Turkey — A group of 12 queer Iranians in hiding in Turkey had gathered for a small party on Tuesday night when someone spotted the report that President Donald Trump planned to stop resettling refugees in the United States.
Several of those there that night had been waiting for their US visas, their cases having been referred to the US by the United Nations. Some had already been turned away from other countries. Others were still waiting to find out if they would ever get a ticket out.
All felt their dreams crushed as they heard the news.
“I’m going to die here,” said Hamid, a 36-year-old gay man who fled his home in northern Iran in 2014 and was referred to the US for resettlement in August 2016. He is one of many queer Iranians who have camped out in Denizli, a small textile manufacturing city in southwestern Turkey, to endure the years-long wait for a ticket to the West where they hope to build a new life.
“We are all gonna end up in this fucking Turkey,” said Soheil, a teacher also from northern Iran whose case is under review with the US, in a text message after the news had sunk in the next day. “Trump is signing the law that literally prevents all Iranian asylum-seekers from entering states except religious minorities. It’s hell. It’s fucking hell.”
The details of what Trump will do are still far from clear. According to news reports, he’s expected to sign an executive order — not enact a law — that will freeze refugee resettlements for 120 days and then admit only people from countries where cabinet officials certify “sufficient safeguards are in place” to vet refugees. A reported draft of the executive order would suspend resettling Syrian refugees indefinitely, requiring Trump to personally sign off on resuming the program. It would also cut the number of refugees allowed to be admitted to the US in 2017 to 50,000, less than half of the 110,000 allowed under a cap set by President Obama.
Read more: https://www.buzzfeed.com/lesterfeder/these-lgbt-refugees-may-be-trapped-by-donald-trumps-immigrat?utm_term=.hen2nBLyd#.isPmvJx2a
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